Filling liberal education requirements

Course requirements should be more accommodating to all types of students.

By

Editorial Board

November 08, 2012

With registration coming up, it’s important for students to make sure they have their liberal education requirements infused into their four-year plan. Putting off those courses until senior year is less than ideal and will result in fewer opportunities for students to take classes that relate to their interests.

In order to obtain a bachelor’s degree from the College of Liberal Arts, students need to take four writing intensive courses during their time as undergraduates. Two of the four courses have to be at an upper division level, and the required Freshman Writing course doesn’t count as writing intensive. For students in majors such as English that have courses dependent on writing, taking four writing intensive courses is easy, and most students unintentionally end up taking more than required. Other majors like Italian, German and other language studies might have one or two writing intensive courses at the most. Some courses within the School of Journalism and Mass Communication requires a lot of writing but are not classified as writing intensive courses because the assignments are smaller and require a less extensive editing process. Many students who put off completing their liberal education requirements until their senior year will have to take upper level courses for their majors while also having to take writing intensive courses from other departments.

To make it easier for students to fulfill these requirements, there should be more writing intensive course options across the board for all majors and minors, so they can better accommodate students’ interests and what they wish to pursue after they graduate.

Senior year will better prepare students for careers after graduation if they are able to focus on internships and upper level major courses that directly relate to their field of interest.